About time I posted on my blog, its been a busy time with little ones leaving for school and other's a  larger setting. It seems that when one leaves, another knocks on the door which then begins a cycle of new friends joining to complete our family of little learners.

Saying good bye to a child that I have spent a lot of time getting to know is often an emotional experience. It's the nature of my work and so far, I have been fortunate that I remain in touch with families and follow their lives from a distance, sometimes getting to see them again.

We often talk about the impact of the pandemic, lockdowns and social distancing on our children in the Early Years. The over-arching outcomes of these discussions always tend to lean towards the impact of the pandemic on our children as a negative one; delayed speech, attachment issues, a lack of social skills and countless other noticeable implications on children’s development. 

I have welcomed young children into my setting and found that most families have coped as well as they could with the effects of being locked down. Attending socially distanced outings had become a 'norm'. Children have adapted. For young children, seeing mum and dad wearing a mask is 'normal'.

As we head into a brand new year, with hopefully significantly less disruption,  I continue to support children’s learning and development. I aim to take a more holistic and positive approach on the skills that can’t be measured by the usual assessments as a result of children's life-changing experiences of living through a pandemic. Whilst it’s easy for us to notice the difficulties, it’s our job to ensure we notice the positive aspects of these times too. 

Play is an important part of early childhood

Children of all ages learn a lot through play. 

                                       Stages of play:

•                                    unoccupied.
•                                    playing alone.
•                                    onlooker.
•                                    parallel.
•                                    associative.
•                                   cooperative.
  

I allow time for children to play indoors and outdoors allowing them to use their imagination.

We build a den together, read some books, build a train track,  I try to ensure there are resources (soil/sand/stones/plant pots/branches) in the outdoors,  We build with Lego/duplo. Measure creations with a tape measure to add some maths learning or plan a creation on paper to then create using Lego. (older children)

I plan for role play cafés, shops, vets, doctors using recycled materials or play dough. We create menus using pictures to cut and stick or draw our own.

Each day so that it reaffirms the core principles of child-centered practice and connections with family, communities, cultures and the natural world. I try to consider the whole child: physical, social and emotional well-being, health and learning.

 

Every day is different. That thought freshens my enthusiasm to create an environment that can cope with changes, moods and unexpected moments. Young children need to be listened to. I tune in from the moment they arrive and after goodbye's they often enter the playroom in a mood of discovery and soon become engaged. 

I ask the children what they would like to do, be it read a story, sing the hello song, get ready to make fresh play dough, help arrange the ride on's in the garden, or set up the mud kitchen? Often after we've enjoyed breakfast together, children are content and ready to start the day if they've come in 'out of sorts'.

There are stimulating resources with spaces for rich learning opportunities through play and playful teaching. Risk taking is supported, with active learning and thinking creatively and critically. For example recently after a walk to the woods we returned to find mini beasts in the garden, and examined water drops on a spider's webs that we found, followed by play with mini beasts (pretend) and drawing our own spiders and making spider webs out of play dough, adding flour for snow.

There is always something to do in the playroom. One of the most interesting observations that I make is that young children are innately skilled at juggling the balance between keeping busy and engaged and down tools time. It happens automatically. Same happens when they have had enough nourishing food to eat. They know their bodies. I learn from watching them to follow their gut feelings. 

What I do everyday is not 'work'. Yes they are learning, yes, I am the adult that is the key role model, and yes development of skills is happening. I respond to current issues in society and aim to meet the needs of all children to lay a strong foundation for their futures.

That's the big picture.